Jerusalem – The future of the Mideast peace process could rest in the hands of one very undiplomatic man: an outspoken 90-year-old rabbi who recently sparked an uproar by saying the Palestinian president should “perish from the world.”
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The ultra-Orthodox Shas Party is expected to hold the swing vote when Cabinet ministers decide on a U.S. proposal to resume Mideast peace talks. The two Shas ministers participating in the decision are waiting for instructions from the party’s spiritual leader, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef.
“All decisions go through the rabbi,” said Roi Lachmanovitch, a spokesman for the Shas interior minister.
The drama has once again turned the enigmatic rabbi, who has managed to offend Arabs, secular Jews, Holocaust survivors, women and gays with fiery comments over the years, into the familiar role of kingmaker. Politicians from outside his party, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, are now lobbying for his support.
Officials in Netanyahu’s office said Wednesday that his 15-member Security Cabinet — a group of senior government ministers — remains closely divided, with the outcome of the vote hinging on the two Shas members. Amid the uncertainty, Israeli officials said a planned vote for Wednesday had been put on hold.
Netanyahu spokesman Gidi Schmerling said the Israelis were still waiting for a formal U.S. written proposal outlining the assurances before voting.
Netanyahu is under heavy American pressure to accept the U.S. proposal to freeze most West Bank settlement construction for 90 days in order to persuade the Palestinians to resume peace talks. The goal would be to lead to critical negotiations on Israel’s final borders with a future Palestinian state.
In exchange, the U.S. is promising Israel a list of assurances, including a gift of 20 next-generation stealth warplanes and critical diplomatic support at the United Nations, according to Israeli officials.
Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said there would be no formal reaction to the plan until it is formally presented during a meeting scheduled Wednesday with a senior U.S. envoy.
Palestinians say they will not resume peace talks until Israel stops building in the West Bank and east Jerusalem — territory they claim as parts of their future state.
They agreed to join peace talks just weeks before an earlier, 10-month Israeli slowdown on settlement construction expired on Sept. 26. Those building limits were also intended to promote negotiations.
State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley refused to comment on whether the U.S. was willing to give Israel assurances in writing.
According to people in Netanyahu’s office, seven ministers are in favour of the new three-month building freeze, and six oppose it. Just two ministers haven’t indicated how they will vote. Both are from Shas.
Lachmanovitch, the Shas spokesman, said the ministers would only abstain if the U.S. provides a written guarantee that Israel can continue building in east Jerusalem during the proposed 90-day moratorium, and that after the freeze, Israel will be permitted to resume settlement activity in the West Bank.
The final word rests with their spiritual leader, Yosef, whose followers consider his decisions as binding religious law.
Yosef, who wears sunglasses on his bearded face and dons a turban and gold-embroidered robes, has turned Shas into a formidable political force over the past decade by appealing to the country’s sizable population of working-class Jews of Middle Eastern descent.
A highly respected religious scholar, he is also a polarizing figure in Israeli politics, lashing out against both Palestinians and Israelis in his religious sermons and often leaving Israeli leaders scrambling to apologize for his outrageous remarks.
The rabbi said during a sermon in August that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas should “perish from the world” and described Palestinians as “evil, bitter enemies of Israel.” He later apologized for the remarks.
In 2007, he said that Israeli soldiers died in battle because they were not religious enough and said the victims of Hurricane Katrina in the U.S. suffered “because they have no God.”
Despite his often hawkish political stances, Yosef has signalled he would support a withdrawal from the West Bank if it saves lives.
Yosef has exerted his influence before. In late 2008, Shas forced new elections by turning down an offer to remain in the government after then-Prime Minister Ehud Olmert resigned.
Recognizing the rabbi’s influence, Danny Danon, a member of Netanyahu’s Likud Party, sent a letter to Yosef on Tuesday imploring him to seek written assurances from the Americans that the 90-day building freeze would be the last.
Another Israeli official confirmed the prime minister’s office has been communicating with Yosef. “Of course information has been shared with the Shas leadership,” the official said.
Shas spokesman Lachmanovitch denied that the rabbi was approached by the prime minister’s staff, or that he was at the centre of a lobbying campaign.
“No one pressures the rabbi,” Lachmanovitch said. “He doesn’t listen to anyone.”
It is sheer insanity for Shaas to defer its decision to a rav no matter how respected he may be. The issues here are political and national security and beyond the knowledge that this rav can possibly have on these strategic issues.
Rav Ovadiah IS Shas; Shas IS Rav Ovadiah.
They’re not just asking a rav, they’re asking their leader.
Besides, Rav Ovadiah is not your typical rav who hasn’t stepped out from the 4 walls of the Beis HaMedrash; he’s a veteran in the political arena and he knows what the stakes are…
I don’t understand this new minhag of rabbonim making political decisions that affect the very survival of EY.
Calling yosef a geriatric “polarizing rabbi” who is prone to be undiplomatic is an understatment. but this is a Canadian newspaper and not Hamodia.
I don’t particular care for Shas, since they have sold their souls often in exchange for funding, but people often call those they disagree with “polarizing.” No one can deny that Rav Ovadia Yosef is a Talmud Chochom.
Saying that the Palestinian president should “perish from the world,” a known lifelong terrorist and murderer of Jews, Arafat in a suit, is hardly an unacceptable comment despite the world trying to cleans him. He hasn’t changed on iota.
“No one pressures the rabbi,” Lachmanovitch said. “He doesn’t listen to anyone.”
Indeed. Pity anybody bothers to listen to him.
well I would sure rather it be in HaRav Yosef shlita’s hands than some secular politician…. at least haRav has yiras shamayim….
You know, sometimes I hear things from him that I like, sometimes things that I hate, but we should never underestimate his understanding and his greatness.
The decision to accept the deal from the US is clear cut and binary.
Either you don’t believe in Hashem or you do believe.
If you don’t believe, so take the planes, take the money, take the bribes.
If you do believe, then say once and for all that we are Jews, we know the truth, we have a God, and that God is not money.
You may think that we need the planes to fight Iran, but I’m going to tell you something that you may not accept. Some time ago I did the Goirel about whether we should fear Iran and the answer was D’varim, 31:6 “Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid and do not be broken before them. Hashem, your God, it is he who goes before you”.
Just today I did the Goirel again, asking the very same question, and the answer was Yehushua, 10:8 “Do not fear them, I have delivered them into your hands, not one man shall stand against you”.
TO #1 – We Torah Jews believe in Daas Torah to make any and all judgements in our lives – especially something as critical as this decision. And I surely would rather leave such a decision to HaRAv Yosef, rather than to either Natanyahu, Barak, Peres, or the rest – who would sell out E”Y and all the Mekomos Hakedoshim (Yerushaayim included) for a dish of lentils or a Volvo, and care more about their political lives, than the lives of the citizens of E”Y.
Chacham Ovadia Shlit”a is likely the most intelligent man living in Israel at the moment. His intellect dwarfs even Netanyahu. We need men like him making decisions, not wild-eyed factions or radical liberal politicians.
with all respect to Ovadya Yosef, let us not forget what happened in Oslo and what are the results.
If you look back at the words of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, you will see how right he was with his opinion on Israel, every time we give up on a piece of land, or freeze construction, we are showing the world that the “Land of Israel” does not belong to the Jews, and then they will demand that we stop building in other parts of Israel etc… then they will see that Israel is weak and they will wage war on us.
the Land of Israel belongs to the Jews, and nobody has the rights to stop Jews from building in Israel. not even Ovadya Yosef
the second that kal yisreal listen to the lubavitchter rebbe,we’ll see the imm geula!
…
Suddenly, they remember “Democrocy”!
Where is The “Democrocy” When the need to consider the true opinion of most people – when it comes to voting in accordance with their conscience?
Did they ask someone what’s his opinion about the return of the oil fields(in Sinai)? or What’s his opinion about the expulsion of Jews from “Yamit”, or about the intention to expel Jews from the old city of Jerusalem??
although so far they have not expelled Jews from the old city of Jerusalem, meanwhile, the “expulsion” is expressed by not allowing to increase and expand the settlement of Jews in the Old city of Jerusalem (as in Hebron and Nablus, etc.).
The Lubavitcher Rebbe
2nd of Tevet, 5746
December 14 1985
translated from hebrew – sichos.com/shleimus/sicha.asp?id=93
Rav Ovadia has a tremendously staunch following among religious Sephardic Jews worldwide. I find it interesting that despite the respect he commands, none of his followers scramble to apologize for the occasionally offensive remarks he makes (katrina victims etc) however true they are in the scheme of things. What surprises me I guess is the lack of political correctedness, but then again, that’s not something that spiritual leaders need to consider as much as government officials do. I respect Rav Ovadia tremendously, moreso since he took a moment to meet with me despite his poor health this past summer.